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Waterpik® will change your attitude about flossing @waterpik

April 12, 2016 By: Alison Blackman

Waterpik® will Change Your Attitude About Flossing

*if you’re not doing it, here’s why you really should.

Do you use a Waterpik®or dental floss? Do you floss regularly? Be honest. The truth is, most people don’t floss at all, or only if we get something really lodged between our teeth. Dental professionals can tell.

Personally, I find it difficult to floss, even with the thinnest dental floss. My teeth are packed very tightly together, and getting that floss in-between my teeth in some places is impossible. Occasionally, the floss even gets stuck! Then I was sent two new products from Waterpik® the Waterpik® Cordless Freedom Water Flosser and the Waterpik®Complete Care 5.0. Using these, I quickly realized I realized that I could floss easily, quickly and effectively without struggle or pain. In fact, the two new dental care devices by Waterpik® make it easy and actually kind of fun, to floss. My attitude towards flossing has completely changed!

Before I tell you about these two new devices, if you’re not flossing regularly now, here’s why you really should:

Have you noticed that your gums bleed when you brush or floss, or at the dentist’s office? Tartar buildup can lead to gingivitis: red, swollen gums that are the first stage of gum disease. If left unchecked, the bacteria-laden tartar and plaque can spread even deeper below the gum line, causing periodontitis: severe gum disease characterized by severe inflammation and eventual tooth and bone loss. If you know anyone who had to have periodontal surgery they have probably told you just how painful and expensive this treatment is. Dirty teeth and gums don’t look or smell good, either.

A toothbrush and mouthwash can’t clean everything in your mouth: A toothbrush keeps the surfaces of your teeth clean and white, and helps keep your breath fresh, but it isn’t terribly effective in getting in-between your teeth and gums where plaque forms. Flossing, whether it’s with strings of waxed dental floss or dental picks, or with a modern water flosser, provides the benefits of an interdental cleaner, designed specifically to clean the tight spaces between the teeth and the gap between the base of the teeth and the gums. These are places that a toothbrush can’t reach. You can kill some of the bacteria that form plaque with a mouthwash, but not all of it, and it also can’t get into the crevices in-between teeth and remove tiny bits of food that get stuck there. Mouthwash also helps to kill the bacteria that form plaque, but it can’t remove the stubborn tartar and bits of food that can lodge in these places.

Water flossing is the answer: Yes, you need to floss, but you don’t have to struggle with ikky bits of dental floss to do it. My new favorite “tech toy” is the Waterpik®, Cordless Freedom Water Flosser, a high performance, low cost battery-operated Water Flosser that you can take with you even when you travel. It’s battery operated, and it can be easily packed into it’s own fabric drawstring travel bag (I would have preferred a plastic case to fabric) and there’s a water plug so it doesn’t drip. The Waterpik®Cordless Freedom is waterproof, so you can do it in the shower. I love this because using a water flosser can spray water if you’re not paying attention to what you’re doing and seeing it in the shower as I’m cleaning my body reminds me to floss my teeth as well (it doesn’t take very long).

The Cordless Freedom has two pressure settings (the higher one is intense and makes your teeth and gums feel really clean). It also comes with three Water Flossing tip accessories (it even comes with the three AAA batteries you need to power it). If you have braces, implants, crowns, bridges or veneers, the Waterpik® Water Flosser is appropriate, and the press literature claims that it is 50% more effective for improving gum health, up to two times as effective for improving gum health around implants and up to three times as effective for removing plaque around braces versus using string floss. If there’s one thing I don’t like (and it’s the only thing) it’s that you can’t remove the water reservoir so a bit of water tends to remain in it. This isn’t a problem if you’re using it all the time, but if you want to empty it completely, you’ve got to shake it around a bit to do so. Amazingly, the Waterpik® Cordless Freedom Water Flosser is available at Amazon.com and Waterpik.com for a suggested price of just $44.99. What it can do for your dental health however, can be priceless!

You can change out the heads on the Waterpik® Cordless Freedom so every member of the family can use it, but what’s even better for a family is the all in one Waterpik Complete Care 5.0 Brushing and Flossing device.

Waterpik® recently introduced the Waterpik Complete Care 5.0 system, a compact machine that features both a sonic toothbrush and a water flosser in one, with interchange-able tips for both. This saves both counter space and plugs, especially important if like my family, you have plenty of people using one bathroom.

The sonic toothbrush has three sonic modes – a Clean Mode for regular daily cleaning; a Whiten Mode to gently remove surface stains (this really works well); and a Massage Mode that helps enhance gum stimulation and circulation (it seriously tickles). The Sonic Toothbrush also features a deluxe recharge indicator display, a two minute timer that gives you a signal every 30 seconds to move to one of four quadrants of your mouth, a travel case, and two replacement heads. It is also appropriate for those with braces, implants, crowns, bridges and veneers. The Water Flosser provides 5 flossing tips (2 are for general use, and there’s a plaque tip, an orthodontic tip and a pik pocket to rinse deep below the gum line.). Should you wish, there are 10 pressure settings, and the easy to fill (from the top) unit delivers 90+ seconds of water capacity (you can add your favorite mouthwash if you wish). You can’t remove the flosser completely from the unit, but the sonic toothbrush comes with a travel case, and both pieces have a cover so dust and other contaminants don’t get on them.

If you have a household where several people share a bathroom, this unit is absolutely the best. The toothbrush is amazingly good, although if you’re used to a traditional toothbrush the sonic one is much more lively and tickled my gums (it took me a few days to get used to it). That said, the sonic toothbrush is so much more effective than a traditional toothbrush so it’s great for lazy people and reminds them to brush for a full two minutes. The Water flosser does it’s job well, eliminating the need for dental floss.

The Waterpik® Complete Care 5.0 System is available at many mass market retailers for a suggested price of $99.99. Considering the cost of toothbrushes for a family of four, plus dental visits (especially if teeth and gums have cavities and other issues), the Complete Care 5.0 System will repay you not just as a sensible value, but in better dental and oral health. The claim is that the flossers will rmove up to 99% of plaque from treated areas. I can’t quantify it, but I can say personally, that my teeth and gums do feel a lot cleaner. Either or both of these units will change your attitude about flossing. They’ll make good wedding shower gifts (the season is on the way) or consider them a gift for Mom or Dad for their special days (both coming up in May and June). For more information, visit the Water Pik, Inc. website at waterpik.com.

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About Alison Blackman

Alison Blackman is a beauty, fashion and lifestyles writer, editor and consultant. Her focus is on advice, beauty, fashion, lifestyles, relationships and things that help make life easier, more successful and more on http://www. advicesisters.com & her relationship advice site http://www.leatherandlaceadvice.com. Find & Follow Alison on popular social media (Icons to the right of the AdviceSisters Logo). If you like what you see, it's easy to like & share with social media icons at the top and bottom of each page.

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